Fastening device



Aug. 4, 1936. A. H. SMEBY FASTENING DEVICE Filed Sept. 26, 1955 lllllllllllllallllil amen M Patented Aug. 4, 1936 UNETE STATES PATENT or ies FASTENING DEVICE necticut Application September 26, 1933, Serial No. 691,062

12 Claims.

This invention relates to fastening devices particularly to garment supporting devices of the clasp type, and has for an object the provision of improvements in this art.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a garment supporter constructed of thin fiat material such as sheet metal, capable of firmly gripping the fabric of the garment and so arranged that while engaged with the fabric it will lie flatly and closely to the person of the wearer. A further object is to provide a device of the character mentioned, constructed of a minimum number of parts, so arranged that while in use the superposed parts are of minimum thickness, and so arranged as to avoid pronounced bunching of the fabric or the production of annoying protuberances of any kind, thereby assuring a'neat and finished appearance. A further object is to provide a garment supporter which may be easily engaged and disengaged and yet so arranged that while in use the normal pull of the supported garment will tend to hold the parts in engagement with the fabric in such manner as to prevent accidental release thereof. A further object is to provide a garment supporter so constructed and arranged that the strain on the fabric of the supported article is broadly distributed, and the engagement with the fabric is maintained in such manner as to prevent cutting of the threads and the starting of runs.

The invention will be hereinafter fully ,set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing:--

Fig. 1 is a front elevation illustrating a garment supporting device constructed in accordance with the invention showing the parts in dis-' engaged positions,

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the parts engaged with the fabric of a garment,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the;

main member provided with the garment engaging head.

Referring to the drawing, the device comprises three parts, namely a main or supporting member A, a lock member B, and a flexible member C, attaching member B to the assembly.

The supporting member A is constructed of thin, flat material such as sheet metal, shaped to the desired contours in suitable manner, preferably by stamping. Said supporting member consists of a shank I9, merging into a widened portion at one end, as indicated at II, said widened portion being provided with an opening I2 so as to provide a support bar I3, around which is passed a garter G, or other ribbon-like suspending means, in a well known manner. The shank IE3 is provided with a longitudinal medial slot I4, for a purpose to be later described, one end of said slot communicating with the opening I2. The other end of the shank I0 merges into a head I5, the extremity of which is offset at I6, and terminates in a lip Il. Between the oifset portion and the shank the metal is preferably struck up to provide an integral hook I8, which is extended toward the shank Ill, the outer surface of said hook lying in the same plane as the outer surface of the lip IT. The hook and lip may be referred to collectively as interlocking projections. The angular portion of the offset IB is provided with relatively spaced transverse slots I9, forming between them a transverse anchor bar 20.

The lock member B consists of a flat body formed with a central, elongated rectangular interlocking opening 2i, with its longer diameter arranged transversely of the said member, and of such length as to slightly exceed the width of the head I5. One end of said flat body is provided with a transverse slot 22, so arranged as to provide a support bar 23. The other end of said body is provided with a tab like extension 24.

The member 0 consists of a ribbon like member having one end engaged with the anchor bar of the support member A, and the other end engaged with the support bar 23 of the lock member B. A portion of one end of the ribbon C is looped around bar 20, and a portion of the other end thereof is looped around bar 23 and secured in any desired manner. As shown, said member C is formed as an endless band having portions looped around the respective bars 20 and 23, and of sufficient width to cover the back of member A, so that no metal Will touch the flesh.

In assembling the device the loop C is engaged with bar 29 in such manner that the lock member B will be suspended therefrom, back of member A. The lock member is then brought forwardly through the opening I 2, so that it will depend to a position over the front of member A, as shown in Fig. l. The parts are now ready for engagement with a garment. The operation of bringing the lock member to the position just described is greatly facilitated by passing said lock member edgewise through slot I4, and drawing member C through said slot and at the same time moving it into the opening I2.

In operation, the member A is placed back of a stocking S, or other article to be supported, with the outer surfaces of lip I1 and hook l8 pressing lightly against it. In this connection it will be found that said member A because of its length may be readily grasped by the hand and manipulated in placing and engaging the parts. For instance, to engage the members, the operator places one finger beneath shank H! with the thumb pressing against the front of bar I3, and supports head IS in engagement with the inner face of the fabric S, while the other hand manipulates member B. By holding the lock member B at an angle to the plane of member A and moving it toward the upper end of the member A, projections ll, l8, together with the engaged portion of the fabric are pushed through the opening 2|. Then, by a slight angular movement of the member B by the hand followed by a downward movement thereof, such as produced by the supporting pull of member G, the article is firmly gripped between the lip H and hook l8,

and the adjacent surfaces of member B. In other words, as the fabric is engaged between the head :5 and the lock member B, the fabric because of the pull of the supported garment thereon has a slight sliding movement over the projections I1 and It. This slippage in turn imparts a slight downward movement of the lock member B relative to said head l5, until the upper edge of the opening 2| is arrested by engagement with the base of tongue l8, with the fabric'firmly gripped between said edge and said tongue. The lower edge of opening 2| is pulled outward against the under face of the lip ll. Therefore, in the final analysis the grip upon the fabric is distributed between the edges of opening 2! and the under faces of the projections H and I8 with a snubbing action where it passes over the ends of the projections and a final snubbing action where it passes between the upper edge of the opening 2| and the base of the projection l8. The space between the projection 18 and the shank H) of the male member is only slightly greater than the thickness of the member B whereby a wedging action is obtained beneath the projection. The grip is intensified by the normal pull of the supported article. That is to say, after the parts are thus engaged the supportingpull upon the garment tends to tighten the grip on the fabric and thereby prevent accidental disengagement. To disengage the garment, it is only necessary to push member B upward with respect to member A sufiiciently to disengage the lip I! from the upper edge of the opening 2| of member B whereupon the member B will be tilted at an angle and moved downward over the head l5 thereby releasing the garment. Thepull of the fabric assists in this releasing movement. This disengagement may be effected by engaging the upper end of the member A with one finger of the hand and engaging the tab 24 of member B with another finger of the hand and pressing the parts together.

The advantages of the invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which it belongs. For instance, by constructing the parts of thin sheet-like material, the device is of minimum thickness, so that it will lie closely to the person without'bunching'of the fabric, and avoiding the usual unsightly protuberances produced by garmentsupporters now in common use. It will also be noted that because of the shape and arrangement of the parts of head l5,-the strain upon the supported fabric is dispersed over a relatively wide area, and that by rounding the edges which normally engage the fabric of an article to be supported, all danger of cutting of the threads of the fabric is avoided, reducing all danger of runs, and yet providing the necessary positive grip required for proper functioning of the parts. Thus a device of neat and compact appearance is provided, but at the same time possessing maximum gripping efficiency upon the garment to be supported. A further advantage is that a device of simple form is provided, which may be readily engaged with or disengaged from the article to be supported, and yet the parts are so related that accidental disengagement is impossible. Another advantage is that the device is formed of few parts so that it may be manufactured at a very low cost.

While one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described it is to be understood that the invention may have various embodiments within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I'claim:

1. A fastening device comprising a main member attachedto an anchor member and having a garment engaging head provided with oppositely extending interlocking projections adjacent its end, a lock member having an-interlocking opening therein-and a flexible member connected at one end to'said lock member and at its other end to the main member, said flexible'member having a slack upwardly extending loop passing from one side of said main member to the other, said projections being constructed and arranged to engage a fabric and push it through the opening in the lock member and to clamp said fabric against the outer face of said lock member on opposite sides of the opening therein.

2. A fastening device comprising a main member having a garment engaging head at one end and an opening at the other end for receiving an anchor member, saidhead having oppositely ex tending interlocking projections adjacent its end, a lock 'member 'having an interlocking opening therein, and'a flexible member connected at one end to :said lock member, passing through the opening of the main member, and at its other end beingsecured to the garment engaging head of the main member 'whereby to cover substantially the entire -front and back surfaces of said main member abovesaid projections, said projections being constructed and arranged to engage a fabric and --to'pu'sh it through an opening in the lock member and to clamp said fabric against the outer face of said lock member on opposite sides of the opening therein.

3.-A fastening device comprising a'main member of flat material having a garment engaging head provided with an offset extremity and a hook member adjacent to said extremity, said member also having a transverse anch'or bar located between the liookmember and said offset extremity, a lock member of flat materialha'ving an opening therein and a'flexible member connected at one end withsaidanchonbar and at its other end to said lock member, said offset extremity and'said hook'beirig'eonstructed and arranged to engage a fabric and to push it through an opening in the lockmember and to clampsaid fabric against the outer face of said lock member on opposite sides of theopening therein.

4. A fastening device comprising a main member attached toa-n anchor member and having a garment engaging-head provided with oppositely extending interlocking projections near one end, the outer faces of saidprojections lying in approximately thesame plane, a lock member having an interlocking opening therein, said lock member having a tab-like extension at the end thereof, and a flexible member connected at one end to said lock member and at its other end to the garment engaging head of the main member on the side opposite the lock member, said projections being constructed and arranged to engage a fabric and push it through the opening of the lock member and to clamp said fabric against the outer face of said lock member on opposite sides of said opening therein.

5. A fastening device comprising a main member of flat material having a head provided with an offset extremity and a hook member adjacent said extremity, said head also having spaced apart slots providing an anchor bar located between said offset extremity and said hook member, a lock member also of flat material having an opening therein and an anchor bar at one edge thereof, and a flexible member having one end connected with the anchor bar of said lock member and its other end connected with the anchor bar at the head of the other member, said offset extremity and said hook being constructed and arranged to engage a fabric and to push it through the opening in the lock member and to clamp said fabric against the outer face of said lock member on opposite sides of the opening therein.

6. A fastening device comprising a main member having a shank provided at one end with an opening and at the other end with a garment engaging head provided with oppositely extending interlocking projections, a lock member having an interlocking opening therein, and a flexible member connected at one end to said lock member, passing through the opening in the main member and at its other end being connected to said garment engaging head of the main member, whereby to overlie both sides of the shank of the main member, said projections having their outer faces lying in approximately the same plane and so constructed and arranged as to engage a fabric and to push it through the opening in the lock member and toclamp said fabric against the outer face of said lock member on the opposite sides of said opening therein.

7. A fastening device comprising a main member including a shank having an opening at one end providing a supporting bar and having a head at the other end, said head being provided with an offset extremity, and a hook member adjacent to said extremity, a lock member having an opening therein, and a flexible member connected at one end to said lock member and at its other end to the head of the main member, said shank of the main member having a longitudinal slot therein communicating with said opening to permit the passage of said lock member therethrough, said offset extremity and said hook being constructed and arranged to engage a fabric and to push it through the opening in the lock member and to clamp said fabric against the outer face of said lock member on the opposite sides of said opening therein.

8. A fastening device comprising a main member of thin flat metal including a shank having a widened portion at one end provided with an opening therein so as to form a support bar, the other end of said shank being widened to provide a head having an offset extremity and a hook member adjacent to said extremity, said head having transverse slots located between said hook member and said offset extremity so as to provide an anchor bar, a lock member also of thin flat metal having an opening therein of slightly greater width than the width of said head, said lock member having an anchor member at one edge thereof, and a flexible member connected at one end to the anchor member of said lock member and at the other end to the anchor bar of said head, said flexible member being also passed through the opening in said main member, said offset extremity and said hook lying in approximately the same plane and being so constructed and arranged as to engage a fabric and to push it through the opening of the lock member, and to clamp said fabric against the outer face of said lock member on the opposite sides of the opening therein.

9. A fastening device comprising in combination, a first attaching member and a second attaching member complementary to the first, one of said members being provided with an interlocking opening therein and the other being provided with oppositely extending interlocking projections adapted to pass through said opening with a strip of fabric and by an angular movement to secure the fabric against the other member about said opening, one of said members through which the fabric is supported being provided with an element by which it is attached to an anchorage, and a flexible member secured at its opposite ends to each of said attaching members respectively and having an upwardly extending loop between its ends disposed partly on each side of that one of the attaching members which is provided with the element, said loop having slack therein when said attaching members are in interlocked posi- 3 tion.

10. A fastening device, comprising in combination, a, male attaching member including a shank of considerable length having an anchorage element at its upper end and offset oppositely disposed longitudinally aligned interlccking projections at its other end, an anchor member secured to the anchorage element and carrying said male member which takes the entire pull imposed upon the device, a female attaching member having an interlocking opening adapted by an angular movement to be threaded over said projections to clamp a fabric between the adjacent faces of said attaching members, said female member being considerably shorter than the male member and only slightly longer than the longitudinal width of its opening, and a flexible member loosely attaching the female member by its upper end to said male member, said flexible member taking no part of the pull imposed by the supported fabric.

11. A fastening device, comprising in combination, a first attaching member, independent anchor means for said first member which directly supports it and takes the entire pull imposed upon the device, a second attaching member, anchor means for said second member which connects it with the first attaching member and retains it but which is of such length and character that it takes no part of the pull on the device, said first member including a shank and offset oppositely extending interlocking projections aligned with the length of said shank, the lower projection forming the end of said first member, said second member having an interlocking opening therein which passes over and engages said projections by an angular movement, and a tablike extension on the end of said second member which projects beyond the end of said first member when the parts are in normal attached position, for the purposes set forth.

the male member, said female member having an opening therein adapted to engage said head of the male member by an angular movement in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the head, and said male member including an element which is upwardly and rearwardly inclined from the rear face of the lower portion of said head to assist in imparting angular movement to the female member.

ADOLPH H. SMEBY. 

